Moulin Rouge: Breaking the mold of Musicals

A detailed Summary of Moulin Rouge: Breaking the mold of Musicals

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." This lesson about life and love is just one of the many the movie Moulin Rouge has to offer its audience. Baz Luhrmann, director and co-writer of this wildly tantalizing musical extravaganza transports the viewers into a sensual underworld one would only expect to see in a fantasy. Some may argue, however, that the story's simplistic, predictable plot takes away from the success of the movie; this is easily overlooked due to the amazing visual and musical aspect of the film. This innovative musical goes above and beyond the formulaic products of other musical directors and gives the audience a unique experience they will not soon forget.

The simplistic love story that Luhrmann and his co-writer Craig Pearce portray is made up for by the brilliant display of Paris and it's infamous nightclub, the Moulin Rouge. Some may argue that the visuals were too much and only covered up a bad plot, or as movie critic Scott Alan said "It's like Cabaret on acid. The quick cuts are like an assault on the senses, and Luhrmann doesn't keep the camera still long enough for you to absorb the rich texture or make an emotional connection to the characters". Though this may

Moulin Rouge is a film like no other in its genre. It can be described as "Romeo + Juliet meets Rent, or even Rocky Horror meets Curque du Soleil" (Fox 1). It breaks the mold of characters simply breaking into song, though occasionally it does happen, and makes the music fit by placing the story in a nightclub. It puts a spin on the old way of musicals and opens the door for more contemporary works by eliminating the classic format of musical songs coming from their own genre as well as by using a combination of modern ideology placed into historic France. After all romantic tragedy has been done numerous times throughout history but never quite like this, "The story - although set in 1899 Paris - is inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus, whose beautiful music won over everyone" (Webster 1). Orpheus was believed to be able to charm not only humans but also beasts and trees and rocks as well with his beautiful music. Similarly Satine was able to charm her audience with her amazing voice and charming music.

Another interesting element is the way that Luhrmann portrays a mainstream ideology through characters with counter-cultural views. The Bohemians during the time of the Moulin Rouge setting were thought of as having bizarre ideas. The values of truth, freedom, beauty and love were new and scary to society at this time. Money and security over powered such trivial things. For example Satine's sole purpose for hurting Christian, a penniless writer, was to be with the Duke who could ensure her financial security. She loved Christian but societies influence forced her t

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies